Why Sarah Armstrong?

I assumed it would be easy; I’d let my imagination wander and effortlessly, springing from my subconscious, a character would emerge, a full-blown, well-formed, fictional and fascinating representation of humanity. This creature would be the centerpiece of my imaginary world, working at my command to decipher clues, solve puzzles, fight bad guys, love, hate, and even, perhaps, die. So I sat down at my computer, fingers poised, and waited. What happened?

Nothing.

This scene unfolded about a decade ago. By then, I’d already spent many years working as a journalist, first writing magazine articles and then true crime books. I’d covered sensational cases across Texas and the nation. Looking back, it had been a crime school of sorts, one where I sat through trials, nosed around behind the scenes at a morgue, explored forensic labs, lingered in the living rooms of victims’ families and behind prison walls. Over the years, I’d interviewed investigators, prosecutors, defense attorneys and victims, even murderers.

The bottom line is that I’d had a lot of experiences, and I had a lot of material, but what to do with it all? Who would be the central figure in the mystery series I yearned to write, the all-important protagonist? Now, that was something to consider.

First, I decided I wanted my main character to be a woman cop. Why? I knew a little about the subject. I’d spent a lot of time with women in law enforcement during my magazine career, from a petite, Cuban-American officer who patrolled Miami’s Little Havana to a statuesque, wise-cracking homicide detective in Detroit. I’d traveled the ruler-straight roads of Montana with a dedicated young deputy sheriff who worked with American Indian tribal law enforcement and interviewed a redheaded forensic specialist whose voice rose in excitement when comparing the benefits of various chemical solutions for detecting the presence of blood. The women I met talked of their love of their vocations and the frustrations of working in what remains predominantly a man’s world.

Once I decided my main character would be a woman cop, I considered her specialty. That was actually pretty easy. Years earlier, I’d done a series of magazine articles on criminal profilers, interviewing three women, two in Florida and one in California, who worked big cases, including serial murders. They were open and patient, describing their profession and their lives. They talked of trying to live a normal life while delving into the darkness of true evil, peeling back the layers at a crime scene to find clues to the perpetrator. I was fascinated, and my character became a criminal profiler.

Finally, I considered her sphere of influence. I knew instinctively that I wanted her to travel Texas. I’d done that as a reporter, and it’s an amazing state, from East Texas’s Big Thicket to West Texas cotton fields, from the border towns to the rolling hills of Texarkana. I didn’t want to limit my mysteries with concerns over jurisdictional boundaries. That led me to another decision: my character had to be a Texas Ranger.

Finally, my character needed a name. I found one in ranger folklore, amongst the yellowed archives of a forgotten era. In a history of the Texas Rangers, I read about Sgt. John B. Armstrong, born in 1850, who while still walking with a cane from a gunshot wound, managed to corner and arrest the infamous criminal John Wesley Hardin. I wanted my character to have Armstrong’s courage, so I baptized her with his last name.

This process took months, but the next time I sat down to write, I brought with me Lieutenant Sarah Armstrong, a Texas Ranger and criminal profiler. I made Houston her home, because it’s mine.

In the first in the series, SINGULARITY (2008), Sarah traveled Texas, hunting a bizarre killer. In the second, BLOOD LINES (2009), she investigated the questionable suicide of a River Oaks oil exec while searching for clues to the identity of a cyber-stalker terrorizing a teenage recording sensation.

The third in the series, THE KILLING STORM, opens with the abduction of a four-year-old boy from a northwest Houston park and a string of ritualistic killings of Texas longhorns on the city’s outskirts. The clues lead back to the days of sugarcane plantations and slavery and take Sarah, once again, inside a killer’s twisted psyche. Complicating the investigations is the ticking clock, as a mammoth hurricane bears down on Houston. Why a hurricane? Undoubtedly, it’s a case of fiction imitating life; in the months before I began writing THE KILLING STORM, I was hunkered down with the rest of Houston, riding out Hurricane Ike.

Thanks to all my friends at Murder by the Book for inviting me to tell you about Sarah’s conception. I enjoy spending time with her, watching her change and grow with each book. Hope you do, too!

———————————————————————————————————————————-

See Kathryn Casey at Murder By The Book, Saturday, November 13th, 3:00 p.m. She will be accompanied by Wende Wakeman Conroe, one of only three female Rangers in the history of Texas. Wende is a "Company A" Ranger, just like Casey’s heroine Sarah Armstrong. Wende will be available for questions and information at the event.

Can’t make it to the signing, but would like a copy of The Killing Storm signed or inscribed? Please contact the store by phone (713-524-8597 / 888-424-2842), e-mail, or come on by!

One Response

Kathryn, you make the process seem so simple. I know you have paid your dues many times over to collect the information that appears in the Sarah Armstrong series. I am glad to know how you went about bringing her to life. She is fantastic and a credit to her real conterparts. Please keep her alive for a long time.